For Survival's Sake
by Boducky
Summary: Wiress is the unlucky, unlikely tribute for District 3. Amidst dangers and killers - how did she ever survive?
1. Chapter 1

**For Survival's Sake**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of the characters. The character of Wiress intrigued me… it made me wonder as to the circumstances under which she survived her first Hunger Games. All characters, except for Wiress, were invented by me. (Note: Aurelius Flickerman is meant to be Cesar Flickerman's father.)

Pain stabbed her eyes as she rose from the tube, and she raised her hand to try to shield herself from the blinding light of the arena. Her heart pounded furiously, so much more rapidly than the clock that was counting down the seconds until the start of the Games. Knees trembling, she wondered how she would manage to stand, let alone run.

Would her shaking legs give out, causing her to fall? Would she land on one of the mines, and come to her end before the games even began?

… _Would that be such a bad way to go?_

She shook her head, willing that dark thought out of her mind. _Think clearly! Your_ _ **only**_ _hope of surviving is to think clearly!_

Now that her eyes had adjusted to the light, they started darting around furiously. _Arid, rocky landscape. Loose rocks … potential tripping hazard. No shrubbery nearby, no place for concealment besides the Cornucopia._ _Not_ _an option. To the north… rocky hills. Potential sources of concealment - clumps of shrubbery, large cacti (likely painful, but better than dying), many rocky nooks and crevices._

Her heartbeat quickened as the last 15 seconds were counted down. _Behind me, to the south-east, trees. An oasis in the desert._ She let out a short, derisive snort. No natural desert would have had an oasis that large, but then again, the Gamemakers did have to make everything larger than life for this spectacle.

 _In favour of oasis - obviously more places for concealment. Potentially more resources, especially water. Safer to access … to go North would mean running_ _past_ _the Cornucopia. Very dangerous._

 _Against oasis - it will be a prime target, more tributes will be heading that way. Increases odds of deadly encounters. Also, more places for concealment means that ambush (by tributes or Muttations) is a greater probability. Probably full of traps._

… _Potential negative factors become irrelevant if I die in the bloodbath._

"One."

Twenty-four bodies moved, almost in unison, and all with the same purpose. Survival. For some, that meant running away. For others, that meant fighting. Killing.

Since the wiry, young girl was very obviously not a fighter, she turned and ran to the south-east.

How odd, and how fortunate for her, that she had always actually enjoyed running. Not for sport, not for training, but for feel of the air rushing past her face and through her short, brown hair, the rush of endorphins. She had always found it relaxing.

Now she was thankful, as her running was saving her life. Never before had she run with such ferocity and such desperate purpose, with her mind still whirling and her eyes still darting around for signs of danger.

 _Don't look back, don't look back._ It became a mantra. _The boy from twelve… young but fast. The girl from… oh, I don't remember. She's tired… fading. Will she make it?_

 _It doesn't matter._ _I_ _will make it!_

Cannons sounded in the distance, so many of them. And still she ran. As she reached the oasis, with its dense trees, leaves and branches slapped at her face and arms. Tree roots posed a new tripping hazard. Her eyes darted downwards more… her pace slowed slightly.

And still she ran.

 _ **Back in the Capitol**_

"And they're off!" Aurelius Flickerman clapped his hands in excitement. "And there's the _rush_ to the Cornucopia, and that's no surprise. District 1 - Sateen and Splendor are making their way… Athens and Dusk from District 2 are doing the same. The lower-ranking tributes are running away… smart move! But, wait… what is this?"

His deeply-tanned brow furrowed in confusion. He leaned in. "District 7's … what is she doing? She's picking up… rocks? From around her pedestal. What _is_ she doing? Aspen Collins from District 7... has she gone mad?"

The world watched as the 17-year-old quickly scooped up a handful of stones, and started running to the Cornucopia.

"She's… throwing them!" Aurelius' eyes widened! "She's hit Sateen in the head… Sateen's fallen and… ooh! And now Corral from District 4 has tripped over her. Not fun! And Dusk from District 2 has taken a rock to the back… ouch! She's stumbling… ladies and gentlemen, she's _surprised_! I think we all are. Ooh, look, Aspen's hit a few of the other tributes… running and throwing rocks as she goes. Look at her! Aspen from District 7. How does she do it? She doesn't miss! How _is_ she doing it? She's actually ahead of the pack, now. She's slowed _everybody_ down! Look at them, everyone's looking around, wondering what's happening! But Number 7 isn't looking around… now she's making STRAIGHT for the Cornucopia! WOW!"

 _ **Back in the Arena**_

 _Hatchets, knives, axes… good. Good thing I know how to throw more than rocks. And someone's right on my heels…_

Aspen grabbed a hatchet, whirled around… lashed out her right hand and embedded her hatchet in Splendor's skull. One cannon. The male tribute from 4 was inside the Cornucopia… he reached for a sword. Too slow.

The hatchet chopped into his arm. As he howled in pain, Aspen grabbed the sword he had been reaching for, and finished him off. Another cannon.

She grasped her hatchet, threw it at another tribute. Another cannon. She quickly grabbed different weapons, and then readied herself to defend her territory.

 _ **Back in the Capitol**_

"Look at this! An axe in one hand! A sword in another! Oh, and ladies and gentlemen, she _knows_ how to use them! Look at this! District 7's Aspen Collins has _complete_ control of the Cornucopia. And I don't see any alliances here! She is _not_ letting anyone else near those supplies! Look at this… she's cut through another tribute like a tree! And now they're realising this is a lost battle… some are abandoning the fight with _this_ tributeand are starting to fight each other. And now they're grabbing whatever backpacks they can before they run away. Wait… not all of them. Sateen from District 1 isn't running? Oh… she's trying but… can't. What's happened? Is that a broken leg? Ooh… tough break! No pun intended! And now Aspen has her in view. Ladies and gentlemen, I think District 1 is out of the running this year! Who would have thought it?! And there's the cannon!"

 _ **Back in the Arena**_

Cold, grey eyes surveyed the carnage… some of which was her own handiwork. Nothing moved now… all tributes in the immediate vicinity were decidedly dead. The girl from District 1 had been dispatched with a sword to the chest. True, she no longer posed a threat, but there was also no way to help her. Not that Aspen had any inclination to help a career. Best to put her out of her misery.

 _Eleven bodies lie in this clearing… eleven down. Twelve to go._


	2. At last, a plan

**For Survival** **'** **s Sake**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of the characters. The character of Wiress intrigued me… it made me wonder as to the circumstances under which she survived her first Hunger Games.

* * *

Slap! Slap! "Argh!" Slap!

Bugs. Flying, biting, annoying bugs. The leafy, shaded areas of the oasis were full of them. _This was an unknown factor_ _…_ _not considered into my decision making._ Slap! Slap! _Still_ _…_ _better than death._

It had been hours since she had stopped running. Her legs were sore from the exertion, and now she was laboriously making her way through the dense foliage. She yearned to rest, but knew that she couldn't. Not yet.

Mouth dry and cottony… she was thirsty. Thirst was currently an annoyance… but would soon become deadly.

Slap! Slap! She flailed her hands in a futile attempt to shoo the bugs away. _Wait_ _…_ _are these venomous? No_ _…_ _doubtful. If so, they would have killed me already._ _…_ _Probably._

In spite of her current discomfort, she was quite glad to be alive. Still… the insatiably curious part of her wished she could have seen what happened at the Cornucopia. She had no idea how many cannons had gone off… how many tributes had died. She'd heard two cannons in the last few hours, but had no idea who had died, and who she was still up against.

And a very large part of her wanted to _know_.

Then she heard loud rustling sounds, as leaves were pushed aside and branches snapped. She crouched down quickly, hoping that the tree trunks and the low-growing shrubs would conceal her. More commotion and pounding footsteps… and then a terrified young boy came into view. Sweat dripping down his face, his chest heaved as he gasped for air. He turned his head to glance behind him… and that was when he tripped.

As he sprawled to the ground and cried out in pain, two older tributes came into view, and caught up with him.

"Aw, running away?" the girl mocked. "What, couldn't find any rocks?" Her male companion just snickered. "Maybe your _friend_ should have shared some of her tricks with you. You're from the same district, but she couldn't bother to help you? How sad!"

"I don't know her! I've never met her before the reaping! But… but…," the fallen boy's eyes darted around desperately. "We can help each other! I could… I could…"

"If we wanted a coward on our team, we would have gotten one of the kids from District 3," the male tribute sneered. He reached out and grabbed his prey by the throat. "Don't worry… I found a knife in my backpack. This is gonna be pretty quick for you."

Still crouched in her hiding spot, the girl clasped her hands over her mouth and clenched her eyes shut. _I can_ _'_ _t watch this! I can_ _'_ _t watch!_ She hoped she wouldn't gasp and give herself away. She hoped her heart wasn't beating too loudly… that she wasn't trembling too much. She hoped that she wouldn't be seen.

She desperately wished that she was back home, safely watching the Hunger Games from a distance.

A cannon sounded. A girl laughed cruelly.

"Can you imagine, Athens? If we had become 'Team Coward'? We could have recruited that girl from District 3..." the hidden tribute stiffened. "Did you see how she ran? What was _her_ name, anyways? Weirdness? Something like that?"

 _Coward_ _…_ _yes. But I_ _'_ _m also still alive!_

"Quiet, Corral." The girl scowled, but obeyed. "What the hell happened back there? Why the hell are we stomping through the woods instead of sorting through supplies at the Cornucopia?"

 _Technically, these don_ _'_ _t qualify as woods. A common mistake, as there are many trees, but woods are generally characterized_ _…_

Wiress' mind froze as the male tribute turned around, almost looked directly at her hiding spot. "I saw that girl from 7 take down Splendor and Marlin. I haven't seen Dusk around, don't know if she's hiding somewhere or dead." Athens turned his dark brown eyes to the sky. "I guess we'll find out for sure tonight. Dusk's probably not strong enough to get into a one-on-one battle with that girl… especially without a weapon. But she's probably stupid enough to try."

"Yeah, I figured she'd get killed by stupidity. I'd be kinda surprised if it happened so soon." Corral knelt down by the dead tribute's body.

"He's dead, Corral."

"I'm looking for supplies. Maybe he picked up something we could use."

"Unless it's water, I don't care much." Athens scratched his head, his fingers rasping against the short, bristle of his hair. "Seriously, though. How did the _girl from 7_ get the drop on us?"

"Well, she _was_ ranked as an 8. I guess we shoulda figured she had something going for her, but, this?" Corral let out a whistle. "I think she was seriously under ranked." She pulled something out of the dead boy's pocket. "Hm… matches." After a quick examination, the matches ended up in Corral's pocket. "Look, she had a weird plan, and it happened to work. It threw people off, and that gave her _just_ the edge she needed to get to the weapons first. After that… well… we saw that she can fight, too."

The young man glared at his partner. "Thanks for that assessment. And now she has almost everything. She's smart, she can fight, and now she has the Cornucopia."

"Still… there's only one of her, and two of us. Little miss lumberjack has no allies, and she's got to sleep sometime…" She stood up with a cruel smile on her face. "Let's pay her a visit tonight."

"She'll be expecting it."

"It's been a long day, she'll be tired. Better to hit her now than when she's had a chance to rest. Better to hit her now than after we've wandered around for a few days with no food and water. Better to hit her now, while there's still two of us."

Athens examined his knife. "We'll get branches, make wooden spears. Long ones. She'll have better weapons, but we'll have better reach. If we can't outfight her, then I can keep her busy while you sneak in and burn the supplies."

Corral's grin widened, she got an excited glint in her eyes. "Sounds like a plan to me."

As they headed off, Wiress was _very_ relieved to see that they were walking in the opposite direction from where she was crouched, hidden. They slapped at themselves as they walked.

 _I guess the bugs are getting to them, too,_ Wiress thought. _Too bad_ _those_ _particular ones aren_ _'_ _t venomous._

Then her eyes widened in realisation. She hadn't had to slap herself for the past little bit. In fact… since she had run to seek cover. She could see bugs flitting about, looking for something to bite, but they weren't coming to bite her. In fact… the bugs were avoiding her area.

Looking around, Wiress could see nothing special about that area. No force fields, no electronic hum, no sign of a boundary. So why weren't the bugs coming here?

She broke off a branch of the shrub she was hiding in, and extended it towards a small swarm of bugs. They swarmed around the branch briefly, and then moved. She stood up, and waved the branch towards another swarm. Same result.

She hastily ripped leaves off of the plant, crushed them in her hands and rubbed them over her exposed hands and arms. As she extended her bare and biteable flesh towards the bugs, they were instantly repelled.

"Ha!" She clasped her hands over her mouth and then glanced around in fear. No one seemed to hear her. "Ha ha ha ha!" she whispered triumphantly. Ripping more leaves from the branches, she rubbed them over her legs, face, in her hair…on every bit of exposed skin and, for good measure, on her clothes. Stepping out from the safety of the shrubbery, Wiress sighed in contentment. Relief! Peace! The bugs were leaving her alone!

It would be a good idea to take more of the leaves, to reapply as required. But how to carry them?

Her eyes fell on the fallen tribute… the boy from District 7. A backpack had been left beside his body. Wiress swallowed, and pushed aside all of her civilized sensibilities. Stealing from the dead _was_ repulsive, and, dear goodness, the backpack had blood on it. Still… it would solve her current dilemma.

Corral and Athens had taken everything of value from the backpack… besides an empty water bottle. Still, she now had more than what she had started out with. And, before long, Wiress filled up the pack with fresh, green leaves.

 _Wait! Are_ _these_ _poisonous?!_ Years of watching the Hunger Games had taught her that the Gamemakers could be cruelly tricky… and that seemingly innocuous items could prove to be deadly. Still… she was alive. She hadn't gotten any in her mouth. She would have to wash her hands well before she ate anything.

A small, frustrated laugh escaped her lips. Eat what? And wash her hands with what, exactly? She hadn't found food, she hadn't found water. The only thing she _had_ found was a natural bug repellent! Nice to have, but pretty useless at keeping her alive.

Water was the first priority, food the second. And whoever was at the Cornucopia probably had plenty of both…

 _And is alone._ Wiress sat down to rest, and to think. _One person reportedly holds the Cornucopia_ _…_ _one person who has fended off, even killed, many of the most favoured tributes. This person is reportedly smart and strong_ _…_ _but cannot see and hear everything. Especially if distracted by two other tributes_ _…_

Alone in the oasis, Wiress planned and waited for the cover of nightfall.


	3. Let's Make a Deal

**For Survival** **'** **s Sake**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of the characters. The character of Wiress intrigued me… it made me wonder as to the circumstances under which she survived her first Hunger Games.

* * *

As darkness fell, the anthem of Panem started playing. Wiress looked up to the sky, and wondered who would be doing the same. Who was left? After the boy from District 7 had died, there had been no other cannons that day, and Wiress had not encountered any other tributes. Or food. Or water.

The boy from District 1. The girl from District 1, too? The girl from 2, and the boy from 4. _So, Artec, the boy from my district, is still alive! Good for him!_ Both tributes from 5, the girl from 6, the boy from 7. The boy from 9, the girl from 10, both tributes from 11, and the girl from 12.

Thirteen tributes… dead on the first day. The usual alliance between 1, 2 and 4 seemed to be sorely depleted this year. Wiress had to agree with Athens on that point… how in the _world_ did that happen? How much of what she heard was rumour? Was the girl from District 7 _really_ as dangerous as they said?

 _You_ _'_ _ll be fine if you don_ _'_ _t get caught. Not if_ _…_ _you won_ _'_ _t get caught. Period. And if you do get caught, just run. It saved you before_ _…_ _it_ _'_ _s your best chance of saving yourself in future situations._

She steeled herself to make her way out into the darkness.

* * *

Hours crawled by, time dragged on as Wiress stealthily, fearfully made her way through the pitch black; only the Cornucopia was visible in the faint starlight.

 _A loss of 15 to 25 percent of body water is fatal. Symptoms include thirst (check on that one), headaches (check), general discomfort (more likely a symptom of being in the Games), confusion, unexplained tiredness, even seizures._

She knew that two strong, allied tributes were also making their way towards the Cornucopia. She had strong reason to believe that one skilled tribute was currently guarding the Cornucopia. Only the Gamemakers knew for sure what other dangers lurked in the darkness.

But Wiress _did_ know the symptoms of dehydration, and she knew that it was a nasty way to die. For her, that was motivation enough to risk leaving the oasis at night. Besides, who knew what dangers lurked in there?

She crept forward, mentally listing medical facts and effects, and willing herself to get over her habit of muttering out loud. That would be a good way of giving away her position…

… or of missing something important. She froze, her eyes darting to her left. She didn't even dare turn her head.

A scraping noise. Something moving against the rock. What was it? _Expected fauna for this habitat - small mammals, lizards, birds of prey_ _…_ _currently low danger factor. Bobcats_ _…_ _would they attack a human? Categorize as medium danger factor. Spiders. Snakes. Scorpions. All problematic_ _…_ _high danger factor_ _…_

"Damned rocks, I just stubbed my toe on one."

"Shut up!" Athens hissed.

 _Tributes_ _…_ _very high danger factor._ She fought the urge to hold her breath, and willed herself to breathe evenly and silently. She had no idea how close she was to danger. Her ears strained in the darkness; she could just barely hear the soles of their shoes scraping over the rocks. That was precisely the reason why she had decided to remove her shoes before sneaking through the desert. True, she had a couple of painful moments when she stepped on rocks, but at least she wasn't making any noise.

The sounds of shoes disappeared, and Wiress waited, silently cursing her bad luck. She had hoped to make her way there before the careers could go through with their plan. Now, she had to decide whether to carry on and hope for the best, or chalk this up as a lost cause. She sat for some minutes in silent contemplation.

Suddenly, a scream in the darkness. But, oddly enough, the cannon didn't go off. A voice in the darkness shouted "Come on! We gotta go!" Wiress heard swift, metallic scraping, and the sound of rapid footsteps.

And they were getting closer.

"Idiot!" Athens hissed. "You absolute, goddamned _idiot_!"

"Something bit me! Something bit my hand!"

"And now she's awake and probably has her weapons ready."

"Something _bit_ me, what if I'm poisoned?!"

"Just run!"

They came too close for comfort, but still they ran right by Wiress' frozen, crouched body. Either they didn't see her, or couldn't be bothered to stop and kill her. Either way, she was grateful they just passed her by.

 _Bitten? Hopefully it is poisonous. But that does mean extra caution is required. Possible biting culprit - snake, or spider. That particular creature was probably scared away by the commotion. Visibility greatly reduced_ _…_ _chances of seeing such a creature is almost nil. I_ _'_ _ll have to listen more carefully_ _…_

Wiress liked her odds against one tribute… even though the other girl would probably be on alert. She resolved to go for the Cornucopia, anyways.

She crept ever forward in the darkness… until finally she could see her goal. For some reason, the area of the Cornucopia seemed to be softly lit, as was the oasis. That was probably a stylistic choice on the part of the Gamemakers… so that the audience would have at least _something_ to look at in the night hours. Wiress saw the shadowy figure of a tall person, slightly pacing by the mouth of the Cornucopia. Making rounds. As she paced towards the closer edge, Wiress could see the metallic glint of weapons in each hand.

But the figure made no move to attack, and gave no sign that she saw anything amiss. More time passed… Wiress had no way of judging how long she had been waiting in the dark. But she had to make her move soon, before the sun started rising and she lost the cover of darkness.

More time passed… the figure abandoned their vigil and went into the Cornucopia. More time passed… and Wiress heard soft, steady snoring. She smiled, and snuck forward. Fear, thirst and adrenaline were keeping her awake … that and the fact that she had managed to take a nap earlier in the day. It only seemed prudent to prepare for her night time venture.

As slow and as agonising as the process was, Wiress knew it would be more than worth the effort if she managed to grab something worthwhile. Some water… some food… perhaps some fruit. The higher water content in a juicy fruit would help both with hydration and with hunger. Finally, she reached the pile of supplies. In the dim glow of the light, she noticed bags with round objects in them. They couldn't be weapons… perhaps it was food of some sort? She gratefully reached a hand out to the bag…

The whisper of metal and the whisper of the voice were almost simultaneous. "You're sneaky." The cool point of a blade pressed into the back of Wiress' neck. "But not sneaky enough."

"Please," she gasped, as tears ran down her face. "Please… I'm sorry. I'm not here to hurt you… I just…" her voice died in her throat.

"You're just here to steal from me," the girl coolly replied. "What about your friends? What were _they_ here for?"

Wiress tried to answer, coughed to clear her throat. A sob escaped her lips. "Not my friends. The tributes from 2 and 4. I saw them in the oasis earlier… I hid from them. They killed the boy from your district."

"Well, someone had to do it eventually, I guess." Wiress was shocked by the girl's indifference. "So what were you planning to do with 2 and 4?"

"I wasn't!" Wiress protested. "I swear! I just heard them planning to come here and fight you… I heard them say you were alone here. I haven't found food or water… I just thought I might be able to get something here. I mean… "

"… you thought you wouldn't get caught." The girl stood silent for a moment, looking down at her sobbing, shuddering prey. "But you've got a point, Three. I'm alone. And as a few people have guessed, that makes my position here… vulnerable."

"I'm sorry," Wiress gasped.

"I'll bet you are. I'll tell you what, Three. What do you say to forming an alliance of our own?"

Wiress was shocked into silence. "Wuh…"

"You're not a fighter, but you've got brains. I need another set of ears and eyes, and I'd rather that person be someone who's smart. You can run, so you're not as hopeless as some of the other tributes."

"It's a better option than dying," Wiress replied with a nervous laugh.

The girl from 7 snorted. "Nah, you misunderstand me. This isn't a join-me-or-die ultimatum. Though that _would_ probably be the smarter thing to do. But, call me crazy, that doesn't sound like a good basis for starting an alliance."

"Then what do you mean?" Wiress felt the blade being removed from the back of her neck. The girl reached over her, grabbed a round object out of the bag Wiress had been reaching for. With her sword, she cut the object in half.

"Get off your knees, and have a seat." The girl sat down and handed Wiress the sliced object. It was an orange! Wiressly quickly bit into its sweet, juicy flesh.

"If you join with me," the girl continued, "I give you my word that I won't kill you unless it gets to just you and me. Better than that… I give you my word that I'll do everything I can, short of getting myself killed, to keep you alive with me. And the only thing I ask in return is that you promise me the same as I've just promised you. The alternative…" she paused for effect. "… well, the alternative is that you go back the way you came, into the darkness… alone. With no food, no water, no supplies… no allies. Nothing but the bits of fruit you now have in your belly. Well… and with a warning that if I catch you again, I _will_ kill you."

Wiress swallowed the food in her mouth, wiped juice from her chin and licked her fingers. "Well, that _does_ sound like the best chance of survival."

"And the best deal you'll get from anyone here."

"… but… why form an alliance with _me_? Why not just arrange an alliance with the careers before the games?" Wiress still thought this was too good to be true.

The girl chuckled wryly. "Team up with the careers… yeah. Right. I can't stand them. And when the alliance turns in on itself, how well do you think I'd do then?"

"Oh… true."

Aspen stood up and dusted off her pants. "First reason: opportunity. You're the first tribute I've encountered who wasn't trying to straight-out kill me. Second reason: I've watched you during the preliminaries. You've got some good qualities. And, last but not least," she picked up her sword and started walking away, "if you decided to turn on me, I'm pretty damned sure I could take you out."

Wiress couldn't argue with any of those points. "Well, reason four; I've had a chance to sleep this afternoon. I'm not tired. If you want to rest, I can keep an eye out for danger." She felt her ally move closer, and the hilt of a sword was pressed into her hand.

"Sounds like a good deal to me." The girl yawned and stretched. "Wake me up when you need to sleep. Keep that sword in your hand… let's hope you don't need to use it tonight. And if anyone comes along… scream. I'll come to save you."


	4. On the Move

**For Survival** **'** **s Sake**

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games or any of the characters. The character of Wiress intrigued me… it made me wonder as to the circumstances under which she survived her first Hunger Games.

And, I just realized how short most of my other chapters are. This one is a bit longer.

* * *

A thump, a crash, a harsh curse. These were the things that woke Wiress up. The sun was starting to rise, already the landscape was staring to take form. She looked over towards the source of the noise, and saw her ally dragging items around, making piles.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Wiress sat up, rubbing her eyes. Aspen's head whipped over to look at her.

"Ah… I'm sorry I woke you. Now that the sun's rising, I figured I'd start sorting through supplies." The girl from 7 actually looked a bit sheepish. Would wonders never cease?

Wiress stood up and stretched. "Well, I guess that _is_ something I could help with."

"After breakfast." Aspen tossed her a ration package.

Wiress opened the package, and nibbled on the dried, bland contents while surveying the piles of goods. "Do we have any sort of a plan?"

Her partner sighed, and ran a hand through her short, black hair. "The strongest remaining tributes know that we're here. And there's always a chance that some of the weaker tributes may get desperate enough to form _their_ own alliance and try to take this place. There's only two of us keeping guard… we're at a disadvantage. This place, and the items here, are a prime target for attack. And I don't like the idea of spending the rest of the games worrying about trying to fight off people. Especially not 2 and 4."

Wiress let out a snort of laughter. "Me neither. And there were no new cannons last night… so there's still eleven people in the game. I guess whatever bit the girl from 4 wasn't poisonous."

"Bit? I heard someone screaming about something, but I don't know what it was." Aspen smirked. "I was planning to stab first and ask questions later."

Crumpling up the empty ration package, Wiress started sorting through supplies, and putting them in the piles that Aspen had already started. "2 and 4 crawled past me last night as they were heading to attack… and then ran past me as they retreated. The girl from 4 was saying that something bit her. Well…" Wiress grabbed a water bottle, heard a splooshing noise. "Ooh… water!" She looked at her partner. "May I?"

"Yeah, of course. We'll just have to be careful with the resources we consume. But… continue."

Wiress gulped a mouthful of water. "She didn't say what had bitten her… based on the terrain, I'm guessing a spider, snake or scorpion. But, since there was no cannon, I'm assuming it wasn't venomous."

A cannon suddenly sounded in the distance. Both girls looked up in surprise. After a moment, 7 chuckled. "Well, it that was for Girl 4, that would be a stroke of good luck. Somehow, I doubt it. We'll find out who that was tonight. The bottom line is, 3 and 8 are the only districts that still have both tributes on the ground. As far as strength is concerned, the toughest candidates are 2, 4, me, and _maybe_ that kid from 10. I've been trying to think of a way to hold this place, but it doesn't seem very defensible to me…"

"Defendable," Wiress corrected. She concentrated on bundling foodstuffs together, and didn't look up until she noticed the silence dragging on. Then she saw her partner looking at her in disbelief. "Defensible generally refers to a course of action or concept…" she explained. "Defendable is used to describe a physical area."

Aspen rolled her eyes. "I know you're smart, and it's a trait I find useful. But how about you focus your brains on things that will save our lives, and not worry about my vocabulary?" Wiress blushed, and Aspen shot her a wry smile.

"Come on, Three. Let's work on our plan. Can you think of a way of defending this place? I've put all of the electronic-looking things over in that pile."

Wiress took a few minutes to sift through the pile, then shook her head. "There are some things that would be useful _if_ we had a power source… but nothing that is immediately helpful. I'll take a few of these with me, anyways… they may become useful later. And based on what other supplies we have… I can't think of a way to set up any traps or anything useful. I'm sorry, I can't think of anything that will protect us if we stay here."

"Don't worry, Three. I figured we'd have to go on the move sooner or later."

"Oh, my name is Wir…"

"Names don't matter here," Aspen cut her off, and turned from her. "Nothing personal, Three. We're allies now, but that doesn't change the fact that only one of us goes home. If one of us doesn't die first, then we just end up planning to kill the other."

Wiress hung her head, and choked back her pain. Her partner had a point… Wiress couldn't be angry or hurt at the girl for not wanting to get attached. This was just a stark reminder of the terrible situation they were all in. "Right. Sorry…"

"Weapons… light ones. You should be able to handle these." Aspen laid out a sword, a couple of daggers, a long, sheathed knife, and a belt. "The sword will give you reach, but will be difficult to manoeuvre. If you find yourself in a closed-quarters fight, try to remember to go for the daggers or knife." She motioned back to the pile. "There's a bow and arrow in there… can you shoot?"

Wiress shook her head, and grabbed the weapons on the ground.

"Yeah… somehow I didn't think so. Neither can I. But one of the others may be able to… I suggest we destroy the bow and arrows. We should carry as much food and water as we can, blankets, containers, and I'll load up on some weapons. Whatever we take will be better than what anyone else has."

"I just remembered… the boy from 2 has a knife. And they were talking about making wooden spears as weapons." Wiress struggled to deal with her own weapons as she talked.

"Good to know." Aspen walked up to her. "Belt on first," she looped the leather around Wiress' waist. "The sheath clips on like this… daggers slide in here."

They worked for the rest of the morning in silence, sifting through all of the items at the Cornucopia. Everything they couldn't use got placed in a low, wide pile… weapons that they couldn't carry were smashed with large rocks, and made useless. Then the pile was set on fire.

"We've got enough food and water to last for a few days," Wiress calculated. "If we find more food and water along the way, we should take advantage of that. But I didn't find anything yesterday in the oasis."

"Good. I'm thinking we should avoid the oasis, anyways. Everyone's in there, and there are more places for 2 and 4 to hide. I'm guessing that's where they ran back to after their failed ambush."

"That's likely…" Wiress was hesitant. The oasis did look _so_ inviting. "That's probably where most of the remaining tributes are. I ran there yesterday, because that seemed the best choice for shelter and provisions. That, and it meant running _away_ from the Cornucopia. Hiding in the hills meant I would have had to run _past_ the Cornucopia."

"And someone probably would have gotten you. I say we head for the rocky hills, and go from there. Stay away from other tributes… for now. If they want to get us, they're more than welcome to leave the oasis and come looking for us." Aspen settled her backpack on her shoulders, and started heading to the north.

"W… would _you_ have gotten me?" Wiress asked tentatively. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"Honestly, I had other things to worry about. Not to mention a few people who were actually _trying_ to kill me. I don't think I would have worried too much about someone who was running _away_ from me. Can't speak for the others, though. Once some of them had given up on trying to take the Cornucopia, they started killing the stragglers."

"So… you didn't kill all of those tributes yesterday?" Aspen just scoffed and shook her head. "Well, how many did you get?"

"Um… two or three? Maybe? Or maybe a couple more than that…" she wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead.

Wiress' eyes widened in disbelief. "You don't actually know how many people you killed?! How is that even possible?" She shrank away as Aspen glared at her.

"Look, you got off easy yesterday. All you had to do was run, and it saved your life. Got you to this point. How many people did you run past? How far did you run? Do you even know?" There was no answer. "Once I got my hands on weapons, I didn't have a chance to look around and see what was happening… I didn't get to stop and think. I just acted. I just stabbed and sliced and hacked anything that came near me. It's all a hectic, bloody blur. Sure, I killed a couple of people outright. I know for sure that I'm the one who got the girl from District 1. And I think I injured a few people… don't know who, and maybe that was enough for somebody else to finish them off. And that's what worked for me. That's what got _me_ to this point."

"I'm sorry," Wiress mumbled. Tears pricked at her eyes. "I can't imagine…"

A scream rang out… the girls looked towards the oasis. Another cannon.

"I don't enjoy killing people," Aspen continued. "Some of the careers actually seemed excited about being able to go into the arena… to fight and hunt people. I'll do it because it's my best chance of getting home… but I'll never enjoy it."

Long, silent moments passed. "I don't know if I can kill anyone," Wiress confessed. "I… just don't. I'm not strong, I know I can't fight. Even if I could… I don't know how I could kill someone."

"Well, lucky for us, that's _my_ contribution to this alliance," Aspen said wryly

"How… how did you get past all of those people? How did you get past the _careers_?" That question had been burning in her mind ever since she had learned that _one_ person had come out on top of the bloodbath.

"Hah! Years of jacker-dodging have come in _real_ handy." Wiress just looked confused. "What… don't you know what jacker-dodging is?"

"I can't say I've ever heard of it. I deal with electronics… I don't do much dodging."

"Right… of course." Aspen chuckled. "Well, as you know, District 7 is the lumber district. Lots of trees… and tracker jackers love the trees for building their nests. They _especially_ like mahogany trees… well, mahogany wood is one of our main, luxury exports."

"Oooh… that must be problematic!"

Aspen continued. "Well, we have ways of dealing with that. Machines to blow smoke at the nests, fast-acting pesticides that basically kill tracker jackers mid-flight. The thing is, in order to use these things, we have to get the nest on the ground. Best way is to throw heavy, rounded rocks at them. If you hit a nest _just_ right, the whole thing falls and people on the ground can douse the angry 'jackers with the pesticide."

"Isn't that dangerous?! What if you get stung?"

The other girl shrugged. "One sting hurts like mad, might leave you a bit brain-addled for a few hours, but it's usually not going to kill a person. Now, if they get you in a _swarm_ … then you're probably dead. Besides, the point of jacker-dodging is not to get stung at all. You take your stone, throw it at the nest and then _run_ like mad! A really good jacker-dodger can actually run, throw their stone, knock down the nest and not break their stride, and then run on and get another nest. And I've actually gotten _pretty_ good at it."

"But how does that help in the arena?" They had reached the rocky, hilly portion of the desert, and now had to climb the difficult terrain. Wiress marvelled at how her ally could manage the task and still talk.

"Pelting the other tributes with rocks threw them off balance, and it messed up their game. It gave me an opportunity, so I took it. I got to the weapons first, and I can fight a bit… and the training I took before the Games _really_ helped. Thankfully, it all worked out well."

"I'll never get an opportunity like that," Wiress lamented. Then she hastily looked up at Aspen. "But… well… I guess I did get a pretty good opportunity of a different sort. I just wish… I wish…"

"That we weren't here?" the older girl scoffed. "Don't we all?"

"Well… that too. But I was going to say I wish I had a skill like that. All I know is how to wire things and put electronics together. Well, and I like to run."

"Patience, a steady hand, analytical skills. Yeah… too bad those won't come in handy in the Games." Aspen's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You've got skills, Three. Not the same as me, but skills nonetheless. You just have to figure out how to use them to your ad… OW!" She gasped and hastily shuffled backwards. "Damn! Damnit, damnit…" Aspen grabbed her sword and glared at the place she had just been crawling.

"What happened?" Wiress fumbled with her belt, struggling to pull out her sword.

"I put my hand down, and a big, black scorpion came out and got me." Aspen put her hand to her mouth, sucked on the wound, then spat. "Damn!"

"Are you okay?" She twisted around as she tried to get her sword.

"Eh… doesn't hurt as much as a tracker jacker sting… still, I'm kinda worried. What if that thing was poisonous?"

"Well, we learned last night that not everything here is venomous…"

"What are you doing?" Aspen's head was tilted, and she was frowning at the other girl. "Are you trying to use your sword to protect me?"

Wiress flushed, looking around. She stopped flailing and put her hands down. "Well, something was happening! I thought I might need to defend us." She bristled as her partner burst out laughing. "Well, I _tried_ to help."

Minutes went by, and still the laughter continued. Finally, the laughter died down, and Aspen stood up.

"Thanks for trying, Three. Maybe next time, you should try going for a dagger. Hm… thirsty." She pulled out a water bottle, drank, and then handed it to Wiress. "And when we find a spot to rest, I'm going to get you to practice unsheathing your sword."

* * *

Darkness fell, and once again, the anthem played. The boy from 6 and the boy from 10 had their pictures in the sky.

"Huh… a pity 4 isn't up there. Well, and a good thing I'm not up there. A day that we're still alive is a good day in my books."

Wiress stretched and looked to the sky. "I'll have to agree with you there. How is your hand?"

"Cold, like the rest of me. Other than that, I'm good. So, Three, do you have any ideas on how to protect ourselves from critters while we sleep?"

She looked around. "Normally, I'd suggest smoke from a fire… but given the circumstances, starting a fire doesn't seem very logical."

"Mmm… not if we want to survive. We might as well make a big bulls eye around us as we slept."

Wiress sighed. "The bugs in the oasis were annoying, but at least I didn't have to worry about being stung to death. And they weren't even a problem once I found that plant… oh!" She reached into her blood-stained backpack and pulled out a handful of leaves. They were still rather fresh.

"What is that?" Aspen scrunched her brow.

"I don't know what kind of plant it is… but I had rubbed crushed leaves all over myself, and the bugs left me alone after that. I wonder if it will work for the scorpions." She crushed some leaves and rubbed them over her body.

"Oh… I'd wondered what that smell was." Wiress' head shot up. Amber shrugged apologetically. "Look, I didn't want to say anything, but almost ever since I met you at the Cornucopia, I thought you smelled kinda funny. Now I know it's the leaves."

"Well, it's worked for me," Wiress huffed.

"Yep, and I'm not going to argue with success. It was smart of you to figure that out. May I have some of those leaves?" Still fuming, Wiress placed some leaves into her partner's outstretched hand.

"There. Now we both smell kinda funny." No response. "Look, Three," the older girl sighed. "I'm not teasing you, I'm not trying to make fun of you. I'm sorry I mentioned anything about the smell."

"No, that's fine. Not only am I useless, I'm smelly. And I'm terrible with a sword." She laid out her bedroll and crawled inside.

"The _leaves_ are smelly… you're the one who still saw their value and brought them with you. Yeah, you're terrible with a sword. You've said it yourself, you're not a fighter. And I'm sorry I laughed at you for trying. As for being useless… you know that's not true. You're watching my back, and your brains are definitely handy." Wiress heard a second bedroll being placed on the ground. "Of all of the people that are left, you're the first one I would choose to have on my side. Honestly."

She turned her back. "Why are you being encouraging? You know how this is going to end."

"I'm sorry… would you rather I say 'Muahahaha! I'm probably going to kill you!'"

Wiress sat up, glared at Aspen as she crouched over to straighten her bedroll. "That's not funny!"

"Look," Aspen sighed. "Yeah, I know that only one person goes home. Best case scenario for this alliance? It's down to you and me, and one of us kills the other. And, yeah, I've got a better chance in a physical fight. And that's the _best_ case scenario. Something could happen to one of us… heck, that scorpion could have killed me. Something else could happen to me, and then you'll be on your own. And I still think you'd have a decent shot against a lot of the tributes because of your intelligence. Heck, you've even got the rest of the games to plan out how you're going to deal with me."

"I don't want to think about that," Wiress whispered.

"Well, do yourself a favour, Three. Start thinking about it. Start planning things… even if they're horrible things. Start planning to be the winner of this game. 'Cause, even though I've gotten to appreciate having you around, I'll still kill you when it comes down to it. Sure, I'll feel bad about it. But I want to be the one who gets to go home. And I won't apologise for that." She dusted off her pants, and then slithered into her sleeping roll.

Wiress cleared her throat. "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"I'm sorry I laughed at you with the sword, Three. I just couldn't help it… that was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time."

Wiress chuckled. "I hope I provided some entertainment for the folks back home."

"I bet they loved it. The Hunger Games may be the big entertainment event of the year, but don't usually offer many laughs."

"Well, I knew I could never hope to be seen as impressively dangerous. I guess I'll just have to make do with being pathetically endearing."

"Hey, don't knock it, Three. Work with what you've got." A few silent moments passed. "You know, if the guys back home are watching now, they're probably placing 'Will they' bets."

Wiress turned back to face Aspen. "What bets?"

"District 3 doesn't have 'Will they' bets, either?"

"Um… not that I've heard of," Wires confessed.

"Well, when you throw a bunch of teenagers into a closed quarters, with a lot of adrenaline and stress, it does funny things to emotions. I'm sure you've seen that before in Games."

"Oh, yes. Sometimes causing misplaced feelings of heightened sexual tension or romance."

"Ah… right. Well, whenever older tributes form an alliance, or are thrown together for long periods, some of the guys back home in 7 start placing 'Will they' bets. You know… 'will they do something together'?" Aspen explained.

"Oh, so they're betting on Athens and Corral? From the way he talks to her, I'd say the safe bet is 'no'."

"Well, I'll take your word on that one. But I'm pretty sure they're not just betting on those two."

Wiress frowned. "Well, who else is there? Some of the other tributes are pretty young… I don't know of any alliances out there. Well, other than us… but we're both girls. They can't bet on us." She heard laughter in the darkness. "Can they?" More laughter. " _Are they?!_ "

"Sorry, Three. I didn't mean to make you panic. I was just thinking out loud about home. Sorry. Let's get some sleep."

"I know you can't see my face, but imagine I have a very concerned look right now."

Aspen sighed. "Yes, they will bet on girls. If anything, that just makes the show a little more exciting for them. But _don_ _'_ _t worry_."

Wiress sat up. "I formally request to amend the terms of our alliance. Your word that I will not be killed, kissed, or otherwise molested as long as there are any other tributes. No! Wait! Poor wording. Your word that there will be _no_ kissing or molesting, under any circumstances. "

"My word… yes. Agreed. It wasn't going to happen, anyways, I was just talking. Now calm down, lay down, and go to sleep."

Wiress still kept one eye open until she was _certain_ her ally was asleep.


End file.
